With you I can't be wrong
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and eight: VALENTINES #3 Ken puts himself out there again, and makes a connection.


Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, and fifty cycle. Now here's cycle 6!

Valentine's Day is coming, of course I couldn't ignore it! So I picked ten couples (some with OC characters) and set them for a love fest! :D Then on Valentine's Day, a group story! (not that kind of group, minds out of the gutter!) *cough* Anyhoo...  
**Valentine for the Gleeks, 3 of 11: Ken/Adelle (OC)**

* * *

**"With you I can't be wrong"  
Ken/Adelle (OC)**

It took him a while to make the decision, to get back on his feet and start over after he and Emma split. She had been a victory, after so many losses. He had the proof, right there, that he could be loved. He knew that she had this silly crush on Schuester, but he thought the fact that she'd chosen him, accepted him, meant she was starting a new chapter, and they could be happy with one another.

The months had shown him he had miscalculated how much Emma and Will had something he couldn't compete with. As much as he'd fought for his marriage, in the end he had to just walk away. It didn't mean he wasn't hurt. Her feelings may not have been what he thought they were, but he'd never been anything less than honest… he had loved her, still did… Maybe that was why he'd done it.

And still, when he knew she would be coming back, he had marched right to Figgins' office and cashed in two weeks of accumulated sick leave… so he wasn't ready. Then he'd come back to work to find what he'd suspected… She and Schuester had wasted no time…

That was what had finally given him the push he'd needed. He'd started going out, not really trying still. He was shy… he wasn't before. He'd started going to the bar at the bowling alley… start small.

He'd almost stayed home that night. It was karaoke night… He didn't want to be there and get reminded of Will… and Emma. In the end though, he'd sucked it up, put on his 'laid back' look, and he'd gone to the bowling alley.

He arrived, 'assaulted' by the sounds of a short man in a business suit butchering 'Piano Man.' Taking a seat at the bar, he got a drink… Any other night…

He'd seen her before, plenty of times – another regular. He didn't see why… she was tall, beautiful… He didn't know her name, so he called her 'Legs.' From what he'd seen, she seemed to have a routine down… Serial blind dater. He'd watch her suitor-of-the-day arrive, sit with her for some chit chat… They never made it to the end of… whatever. He could tell something had cut the evening short.

That night, he saw her arrive… and sit… and wait… and wait… He could see her check her watch from time to time; her date wasn't showing up. She looked only a little upset, but it was enough to get him feeling… he should do something. He stared at his glass, his foot drumming against the stool's foot rest as he weighed his options. His whole reason for going night after night was to move on… might as well give it a shot.

Letting out a breath, checking that his shirt was straight, he picked up his glass and walked to the other end of the bar. She was looking at the stage, smirking half-heartedly at the couple crooning on stage. When Ken put his glass down and sat, she looked at him.

"Hi," he greeted her, giving a careful smile. She had a similar one as she turned to face him better.

"Hi," she greeted him back.

"He didn't show up," he stated, surprising her for a moment before she looked to her glass.

"He did not," she confirmed. "Probably would have ended up the same way…" she spoke to herself. She looked back to him, putting the guy who'd stood her up behind her… in the past. "I'm Adelle."

"Ken," he introduced himself, encouraged that she was speaking to him. "I know it's probably not the evening you had in mind, but… I could keep you company, see if he ever shows up." She laughed, then nodded.

"Sure," she agreed, shifting in a more conversation-friendly tone. "So what do you do, Ken?"

"I'm the football coach at McKinley High," he nodded. "You?" He saw her smile.

"I've seen you before. "I'm a nurse, you came in after you got clocked in the head with the football," she pointed at her own head. He blinked. "You probably don't remember, you were pretty out of it. You kept calling me Emma?" He wondered if his cheeks had just gone and turned red. "Girlfriend?"

"Fiancée… Ex-fiancée," he corrected. "We broke up." Her face softened.

"I'm sorry." He shrugged it off, at the same time awed that somehow he wasn't striking out.

"I've seen you before too… well, here," he indicated the bar. She chuckled.

"I guess it's as good of a place as any. I'm not going to keep going to some fancy place if it all just ends up the same way, with disappointment."

"I don't understand it," he ended up saying. She looked at him. "Every time, they leave… you're beau…" He coughed, taking a drink… He didn't want to screw this up. When he looked back up, Adelle was still there, smiling at him.

"The words that make or break a date: Single mom. I'm not going to hide and pretend, I put it out there and if they want to leave, it's up to them," she sat back. Ken looked at her with a nod, not blinking at all.

"Boy or girl?" She nodded to herself.

"Girl… Lucy. She just turned eight." The 'hurdle' crossed, they both felt like the evening had taken a turn for the better, for both of them. "I think I know why he didn't show up," she leaned in to speak low. He played along, leaning as well.

"What's that?"

"Well, I kind of joked with him that, since it was karaoke night, we should go up there, give it the old standard. I think he got stage fright," she whispered curiously. He looked back at the stage, considering his options… He couldn't do any worse than the ones torturing the audience… He had been with Acafellas, after all.

"What did you have in mind?"he dared her, and her face lit up with mild giddiness.

"Hold on, you stay here," she instructed, coming off her stool and moving to speak with the man in charge of the karaoke machine. Ken watched her go, wondering how he'd managed to spend all these nights, watching her strike out without approaching her… and he wondered what he would have missed out on if he'd decided to sit out the night after all.

When he saw Adelle was waving him over, he finished his drink and went with her. "What are we singing?" he asked as they climbed on stage. She didn't reply… she smiled. Then the music started, and he got what she'd meant by 'old standard.'

_[A] "They say we're young and we don't know / We won't find out until we grow."  
__[K] "Well I don't know if all that's true / 'Cause you got me and baby I got you."_

She looked so amused by this, so into it. He couldn't not get into it as well.

_[K/A] "Babe, I got you babe. I got you babe."_

_[A] "They say our love won't pay the rent / before it's earned, our money's all been spent."  
__[K] "I guess that's so, we don't have a pot / But at least I'm sure of all things we got…"_

_[K/A] "Babe, I got you babe. I got you babe."_

As they sang on, subconsciously they got nearer to one another, side by side, singing to one another.

_[K] "I got flowers in the spring / I got you to wear my ring."  
__[A] "And when I'm sad, you're a clown / And if I get scared you're always around / So let them say your hair's too long / I don't care, with you I can't be wrong."  
__[K] "Then put your little hand in mine / There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb."_

_[K/A] "Babe, I got you babe. I got you babe."_

_[K] "I got you to hold my hand." / [A] "I got you to understand."  
__[K] "I got you to walk with me." / [A] "I got you to talk with me."  
__[K] "I got you to kiss good night." / [A] "I got you to hold me tight."  
__[K] "I got you, I won't let go." / [A] "I got you to love me so."_

_[K/A] "I got you babe…"_

By the end of it, he'd almost taken her hand, wanted to… he couldn't begin to explain how grateful he was to have met this great woman, had the kind of experience he'd only ever dreamed of before. By the time they'd parted ways, they had exchanged phone numbers, and set up a dinner date, a proper one… No disappointment to hold them back.

THE END


End file.
